Monthly Archives: October 2014

As it’s Halloween, I thought I’d share the three scary things I see people doing (and not doing!) with their newsletters. So here we go. Giving up too soon This is the biggie. Newsletters are for building long-term business relationships, and for nurturing prospects who take a while to buy. If neither of those things…

I have a database here at Ready to Go Newsletters that goes back to 2009. (Yes, the business started a couple of years before that but we got a new IT system and…well…you know…) So there are people on the list whom we have been contacting for about five years. And you know what I…

A couple of years ago, a beaver decided to use our yard as its own personal Home Depot. Every morning we would wake up and there was another pointy tree stump. Somewhere nearby was a wonderful beaver McMansion, I’ve no doubt. I was watching a documentary about beavers the other day and, like most creatures,…

Here’s something interesting: The police were able to use the unique patterns of wear on a villain’s denim jeans to link him to a crime. Apparently, everyone’s jeans wear in a different way – and cops could link the wear with security camera footage. Why am I telling you this? Well, it’s interesting for a…

Here’s a question I sometimes get asked about our print format newsletters: Why don’t they have a bunch of pictures and colors? There’s a simple reason for that: We want them to be effective. Here’s the thing: People’s mailboxes get stuffed with colorful flyers every day. And we want your newsletter to stand out. That’s…

If only you could see my desk right now. Or the floor around it. Paper. Everywhere. There’s barely room for my keyboard and mouse. The reason is that I printed out the entire first draft of the book I’m publishing. And there are a lot of pages. Why am I telling you this? Because it…

Long, long before I was born (thousands of years, in fact), someone had a brainwave. He or she figured out how to farm. Instead of running around hunting and gathering, people began to stay put and grow stuff. And so the human race leapt forward. Of course, the term farming is used in real estate…

Sometimes, it’s more than just the “thing”. The first draft of my book is done (it’s still without a title – I’m asking our clients for ideas.) And one clear theme is emerging from the 150 pages or so… Newsletters aren’t just about marketing yourself. They’re not just another “marketing tool”. It’s not about the…

I think I could tell the guy who cuts my hair absolutely anything. It’s not just because he is particularly discreet… …it’s because he forgets absolutely everything. So each time I get my hair cut it’s like the movie Groundhog Day – we have the same conversations over and over. In one ear and out…

I was watching a video yesterday about how computers are destroying jobs. Once it was manual labor that was replaced by machines. Then it was office jobs. And now it’s the professions. Lawyers, accountants. Even doctors. Thankfully, the video had an answer to the question: how do you preserve your own job? It said the…

Did you hear about the parrot with the British accent that disappeared for four years and came back speaking Spanish? Apparently, Nigel (yes, that was its name) disappeared one day. Its owner thought it was lost for good. And then it came back – but the words it spoke were in a completely different tongue.…

Let’s take a minute to appreciate the plight of clients. Yes, they can be annoying and they can be disloyal. But they can also be overwhelmed and confused. After all, they are bombarded with information – with ads, with TV, with their Facebook feed… With all this going on, it’s hard to make a decision.…

I was at a rather chilly party the other night. It was outdoors. And it wasn’t that far above freezing. As you can imagine, I didn’t stay long. There was food – soup and nachos and more – but it got cold quickly. So I ate it quickly. The same chilling affect can happen with…

You’ve probably heard of the marshmallow test. Back in the 60s, researchers placed a marshmallow in front of children. The kids were told you can have one marshmallow now, but if you wait alone for 10 minutes, you can have two. Some kids couldn’t resist and ate the treat right away. Others battled through temptation…

Turtles, it turns out, are in trouble. Their millions of years of slow evolution can’t keep up with humanity’s rapid revolution of the past 100 years. For example, turtles can’t cope when we run a road through their habitat. They just continue from one side of their wetland to the other – and get squished.…

This past weekend we had our “Colorfest” event in the village. It’s a celebration of read leaves, orange pumpkins – you get the picture. It rained a lot. A guess that’s fall for you. And as it was wet, most people were wearing their rain gear. It was a party of Gortex. Except this one…

I had the pleasure of taking my five-year-old nephew for a three-hour drive the other month. And as you know, with kids, the distance is never short enough. So every few miles, he would ask: How many hours until we are there? And I would answer – 3 hours Then right away: How many minutes?…

I was reading about this guy yesterday who is trying to visit every Starbucks in the world. So far he has spent about $150,000 ordering a grande latte (or whatever is his tipple) at 11,733 of them. And there are more to go. Starbucks keeps opening them up. But here’s the kicker: He doesn’t like…

I was lucky enough to visit the Art Institute of Chicago the other day. It’s the best art gallery in the world. What I loved was getting within six inches of so many famous paintings. So close that I could see the brushstrokes. It was like being there with the artist – seeing him work.…